In Rodgers v. United States, (9th Cir. 7/6/21), CA9 here (unpublished and nonprecedential), the Court held (based on a prior appeal) that the return preparer penalty under § 6694(b)(2)(A) for a “willful attempt in any manner to understate the liability for tax on the return or claim” requires “specific intent to understate tax liability on […]
Month: August 2021

In the rural northeastern corner of Missouri, Scotland County Hospital has been so low on staff that it sometimes had to turn away patients amid a surge in covid-19 cases. The national covid staffing crunch means CEO Dr. Randy Tobler has hired more travel nurses to fill the gaps. And the prices are steep — […]
I have written on the question of whether the willful blindness concept permits conviction of a knowledge element crime upon the finding of willful blindness or, instead, permits only an inference of the knowledge element upon showing willful blindness. See blog entries here. In other words, if the criminal statute requires a knowledge element, will […]

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Fans of the band Wilco could have reasonably interpreted frontman Jeff Tweedy singing “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” at an Aug. 13 concert at St. Louis Music Park as the universe explaining the past year or so. For example, 30-year-old fan Lazarus Pittman had planned to see Wilco and […]

KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan discussed covid vaccine mandates and the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Newsy’s “Morning Rush” on Tuesday. KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony talked about covid vaccines on Illinois Public Media’s “The 21st Show” on Monday. KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed the FDA approval of […]

Los beneficiarios de Medicaid se están vacunando contra covid-19 a tasas mucho más bajas que la población general, mientras los estados buscan las mejores estrategias para mejorar el acceso a las vacunas, y persuadir a quienes siguen indecisos. Los esfuerzos de las agencias estatales de Medicaid y los planes de salud privados que la mayoría […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the election to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom approaches, abortion-rights groups are warning that Californians’ right to an abortion is on the ballot. Newsom, a Democrat, himself tweeted that “abortion access” is at stake. “There’s no question that if a Republican is elected, access to abortion in California will be restricted,” […]

Spurred by decades of complaints about the high cost of hearing aids, Congress passed a law in 2017 to allow over-the-counter sales, with hopes it would boost competition and lower prices. Four years later, federal regulators have yet to issue rules to implement the law. But changes in the industry are offering consumers relief. In […]
I received the email below from Jeff Beinholt, an alumnus of DOJ Tax CES (the Criminal Section initialism). The content speaks for itself. Some readers of this blog may be within the target audience for his newsletter focusing on CES. “Greetings. Jeff Breinholt here, an alumnus of the Tax (Crim) Division (1990-1997). About six months […]

For years, Kayla West watched the opioid epidemic tear through her eastern Tennessee community. As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she treated people with mental illness but felt she needed to do more to address addiction. So in 2020, when the state created a position to help hospitals improve addiction care in the emergency room, West […]